Fast food restaurants represent one of the largest segments of the food industry today. Fast food restaurants, also known as quick service restaurants (QSRs), are noted for their short food preparation time. There are many biggest largest players in this category include international giants. The Kaati Zone brand – owned by East West Ethnic Foods Private Limited is emerging as a pioneer in Indian quick service restaurants. Franchise Mart had an Exclusive Interview with Mr. Aloke Totlani, Head of Business Development Franchising, Kaati Zone and knew about its Success Formula.

FM: Share with us the origin, growth and success of Kaati Zone. When, where and how did it originate?

AT: This dates back to early 2000 when Mr. Kiran Nadkarni, the founder, was in the Bay Area as a venture capitalist. The number of options for an Indian quick service restaurant was nonexistent on the other hand there were ethnic quick service restaurants originating from Mexico other places which were doing roaring business. There is no Indian quick service restaurant, even though Indian cuisine is very popular many Indians are living in the valley. In India there were many quick service concepts but were regional none came with a globally acceptable convenience, quality, consistency or reliability. An idea took root for coming up with an Indian Quick Service Restaurant Chain to reach to guests both within India globally. After much deliberation trials – the tandoori style of cooking cuisine in the form of Kaati Rolls was finalised as the theme of the quick service restaurant as it rendered itself to convenience, appeal to a larger number of customers globally would allow customization of the food by the guest. Thus was Kaati Zone born with a single outlet in Church Street on 7th Sept 2004. Pioneering the Indian QSR concept didn’t come easy – we struggled initially with the lack of an ecosystem for an Indian QSR. We had to setup the required infrastructure ourselves which meant that we couldn’t grow at the pace we would have preferred. We are currently in 12 locations in Bangalore 2 in Mumbai.

FM: What is Kaati Zone’s claim to fame? Has it won any awards so far?

AT: Kaati Zone is the only Indian Cuisine QSR; the main product category is a kaati roll. The packaging makes it easy to eat non messy – this enables the kaati rolls to be eaten on the go, at work in meetings conferences and at home. Kaati Zone has put in place a scalable hub spokes model, which will take it across the country to Tier 1 Tier 2 cities. Kaati Zone was voted the runner up in the ‘Hottest Hangouts in Bangalore in the fast food category’ by Mid Day.

FM: How did this concept come into being? Is there a latent demand for this idea?AT: Indians love Indian Cuisine/Indian Food, so being closer to Indian food we have the potential to cut across the Indian Diaspora. So – yes, there is a latent demand for this concept.

FM: What is the eligibility criteria for taking a franchise of your company?

AT:Combination of all 3.

Location and area
Investment
Attitude

FM: How many stores do you have across India of which how many are franchised?

AT: We have 14 stores in India right now we have started franchising recently have signed up 2 franchisees in Bangalore. We are actively looking for franchisees in Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad Pune.

FM: What is the Franchisee Support system you offer?

AT: Kaati Zone supports its Franchisees on these elements – marketing, training, IT, procurements, interiors, guest call centers for delivery order fulfillment, and launch support.

FM: How many stores have you launched in the last 6 months and what are your plans for the next 12 months?

AT:Launched 2 stores last 6 months look at 50 + stores to launch in this year.

FM: What challenges are faced by a franchisee in this business?AT:

Staff retention
Working Capital
Learning curve

FM: What is the USP of your Franchise offer from the investor point of view?

AT: Only QSR format in the Indian food segment,

Acceptable cuisine
Easy access to ingredients
Flexibility in formats
Easily acceptable in tier 2 3 cities
FM: Is this franchise opportunity suitable for women entrepreneurs also?

AT: Yes.